The Last Will and Testament of Firelord Sozin and Sacrifice
by Darth Riven
Summary: "A Fire Lord will sacrifice everything for the good of his nation" - the unnamed First Fire Lord... A bit of a different perspective on the events of ATLA. Please read and review. Hope you like it. A two-shot series, one from Sozin's POV, the other from Ozai's POV post-series. Can be read as a prequel to my other ATLA one-shot, Ozai's Choice. Please read and review
1. Chapter 1

**The Last Will and Testament of Firelord Sozin  
**

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_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.  
_

**A/N: I haven't written Avatar The Last Airbender for a long time now. But this was something that's been on my mind for a long time. It does tie in to my other ATLA fanfic that still remains unfinished but this one-shot can be read alone and hopefully actually nicely fits into canon.**

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"_A Fire Lord will sacrifice everything for the good of his nation" - the unnamed First Fire Lord_

_If you are reading this letter, then I have passed on to the next life, and you, young firebender, are my true heir._

_My unworthy son, Azulon understands nothing, he has grown up accustomed to a life of wealth and power and he only seeks to gain more wealth and more power. But you, who have found this letter, you understand what it really means to be Lord of the Fire Nation._

_I have sacrificed everything for the nation and its people. I sacrificed my best friend for the nation. Believe it or not, Avatar Roku and I were best friends. It was he who taught me the finer arts of Firebending. We travelled the world together when I was only a prince. But as the years grew on, our two positions, Avatar and Fire Lord inevitably came into conflict._

_At the heart of the conflict was this, the Fire Nation was getting too big for the land it held. We are merely a chain of volcanic islands sustaining a large population. The Home Minister and the Economic Minister both produced calculations that showed that within one generation, the Fire Nation would face severe shortage of food and other resources. _

_I begged him for the sake of our friendship, that he listen to me and use his position as Avatar to grant the Fire Nation more land, more resources to sustain our people. But he refused, claiming that it would disturb the 'balance'. It was then we had our sharpest disagreement that would inevitably break our lifelong friendship. I had to think of my people. As Fire Lord, I could never countenance the sacrifice of my people for a notion of 'balance'. I begged him again, but Roku would not move his position._

_It was then I knew what had to be done. So I sacrificed my best friend._

_I have sacrificed my morals for the nation. Exterminating the Airbenders was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. But I knew, even if Roku died, the next Avatar would rise in his place to stop what I was going to do and his spirit would be guiding the next Avatar. I knew that the next Avatar would try to stop me because of their notion of 'balance' so I had to put a stop to that. The Airbenders are a peaceful, loving people who I held nothing but the greatest respect for, but for my nation, I would do anything._

_Thus, I had them all killed in a surprise invasion. Being a peaceful people, they would be wiped out quickly. I wish it did not require the Airbenders to be wiped out, but there is no alternative._

_So I sacrificed my soul._

_I have sacrificed my integrity for the nation. I have always been a fine Fire Lord who stood up for the rights of my people. I looked after my people and dealt with them in an honest and just way._

_However, with the war effort comes martial law. Dissent must be crushed and all focus must be given to the war effort. For I wish that we win as quickly and as painlessly as possible, and those that stand in the way, they act to the detriment of the nation. And thus, they must be cut off like a gardener cuts off a rotting limb of a tree, by any means._

_I know this will be unjust, that some dissenters will be executed for treason without due process and justice being served. I know that other dissenters will be taken in through my dishonesty and then 'disappear', never to be heard from again. But for the people, for a swift end to the war, this is what I must do, it is what I did. Even though they are my people, they act against my people and it saddens me that they must die. Yet, I had to focus on the war effort and not let the myself be emotionally burdened._

_So I sacrificed my heart._

_I have sacrificed my throne for the nation. I have been on the front lines with the soldiers, fighting alongside them while Azulon sat at home, regent in my absence. Personally, I have killed many enemy soldiers, their blood is on my hands. Yet, I do not regret it. _

_My presence on the battlefield drives many of my fellow soldiers to strive to be better, to strive to become a better soldier. My presence makes the engineers strive to build better war machines, the farmers and colonists to strive to grow more food, for the supply lines to run more efficiently. My strategists strive to plan better strategies for victory. My nation strives to be the best, so that they may overcome whatever obstacle is put in their way._

_I could have sat back and supervised the war effort from my throne in the capital, but I am a firebender, one of the best in the nation. There is no difference here on the battlefield, I don the same masked armour as the troops, and I face the same dangers as they do. I face the same enemy earthbenders and waterbenders as any of my soldiers. It is physically taxing, fighting a war in the trenches and on the battlefield, but this is what I must do, for the nation. I am a soldier of my nation and I am a King._

_So I sacrificed my body._

_I, Sozin have given everything for the good of this nation. I have continued to do so until the day I have passed. Young firebender, you must carry on the task I have begun, and finish the war. Use all the resources you have available to you to carry out this task, there is surely a way. _

_I can provide three people who will be able to help. Three who know. Speak to the current serving Home Minister, Economic Minister and War Minister. Each Minister has passed this story on to his own successor so that only they know. Talk to them, give them whatever help you can to ensure our victory. Take whatever help that they can offer. Plan with them, assist them, do what needs to be done. _

_A good citizen of the Fire Nation will sacrifice his all for the good of the people._

_My only wish that the war will be over soon, and that our people will prosper. I have already given everything for the good of the nation. Now you must finish this, for the people._

_This is my last wish._

_Fire Lord Sozin_

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Prince Ozai looked at the fading scroll in his hands. With the collapse of the siege at Ba Sing Se and his older brother's mental breakdown over Lu Ten's death, and with Fire Lord Azulon's failing health, Ozai knew what he must do.

Returning the scroll to its final resting place and sealing it once more with the art of firebending, he walked out of the dusty library. No longer could he be the coddled younger prince striving for his father's affection.

It was time he became a man; a man, a Fire Lord, who would sacrifice everything for his nation.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sacrifice  
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_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.  
_

**A/N: This is the semi-sequel to The Last Will and Testament of Firelord Sozin. This also serves as a prequel to the OneShot I wrote ages ago called Ozai's Choice which is a prequel to ATLA: The Spiritbender War which I'm writing now, but have been stuck in a major block with timing everything correctly.  
**

**This is dedicated to Leviticus Wilkes. The idea behind The Last Will and Testament of Firelord Sozin was actually something that was in my mind when I wrote Ozai's Choice and started ATLA: The Spiritbender War, so the idea is very old (more than 4 years).**

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Former Fire Lord Ozai sat in the small dark, dank prison cell, alone. His hair was unkempt and the clothes he wore were now merely filthy rags. Days and nights pass by as he loses track of time as it passes. The only human interaction he gets is through the guards, and sometimes the visits of Zuko, the new Fire Lord always asking where is his mother.

_I do not know where she is. And even if I did I would not tell you._ Zuko leaves as Ozai refuses to speak any more. Zuko suspects that Ozai is lying but there is no proof of anything. The only thing he asks is that the Ministers are spared, and that if the time comes for a trial, that all blame falls solely on his own shoulders and that if anyone were to die, that it would be only him, that all the others would be asked to retire or keep on serving the Fire Nation. For Ozai says, "if I was ready to scar you, my son, in Agni Kai, what do you think I would have done to them if they had refused." Zuko, always willing to blame his father and see the best in other people, agrees to that one request. Ozai is relieved because he knows that the Home, Economic and War Ministers will continue to fight for the Fire Nation, not in war but in politics. For they know Sozin's greatest secret and they know what the nation needs. Even if he is dead, they will fight on for the good of the Fire Nation and that is all Ozai can hope in.

He knows that Zuko is weak, emotional. He will seek to please the Avatar and his friends over the needs to the country. The guards by his door, they tell him things. Some taunt him for losing and feed him bits of information through that way. They say that Zuko has bought peace, the war is over. Others are secret loyalists who say that Zuko will beggar the country with reparations. He tells those who come on behalf of the Ministers that their duty is to serve the best interests of the nation, no matter who is on the throne. They must all say that he was the one that gave all orders, that they feared him too much to go against him, after all, he humiliated his own son in Agni Kai. Anyone else would have been burned to a crisp. One guard who has come on behalf of someone else, has the audacity to ask what it would take for Ozai to rise up and rule again. To which he replies, break the Avatar cycle. But Ozai knows it will not happen easily.

Time passes, and the guards change, less and less are they loyalists, more and more they taunt him. There was an attempt to assassinate the Avatar at Fire Lord Zuko's wedding to the new Fire Lady, Mai. Zuko comes and attempts to interrogate him, but all Ozai says nothing besides that they are good citizens of the Fire Nation who are willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives for the good of the nation. The remaining loyalists pass on information that the Home Minister, Economic Minister and the Justice Minister who was formerly the War Minister, have all resigned and abruptly left for retirement after learning that Zuko intends to give away the land that they have conquered. Ozai guesses that they will not pass on their biggest secret to their successors, in spite, against Zuko's disastrous policies. And Ozai knows that the nation will suffer as a result. For Zuko will make the emotional decision to please his friend, the Avatar, at the price of hardship upon his people. The people will suffer but Zuko will say it is necessary price of the war and blame Sozin, Azulon and Ozai himself.

As time passes, Ozai reflects, and he remembers the what Sozin had told him through his last will and testament and wonders where he has gone wrong. He has been a good Fire Lord. He has sacrificed everything for the good of his nation. The day that they will execute him will not be the day he dies, it will merely be the day he stops breathing because the Fire Nation has killed him already. He has already sacrificed everything for it.

_I have sacrificed my family for the good of the Fire Nation. Iroh was supposed to succeed at Ba Sing Se, he was supposed to shoulder the burden of Fire Lord, he was supposed to finish the war. But with Lu Ten's death and his failure at the siege, the burden fell to me. I was supposed to be happy with my wife and children, a prince who had wealth, not the responsibility of the Fire Nation on my shoulders. But when he failed, he was broken, he couldn't finish the war. He couldn't get over his son's death. Unfair as it was, he could not pay the price that had to be paid to be a good Fire Lord. So, I sacrificed my duty to my older brother, for the good of the Nation. I took the throne from him because I knew that I had to finish the war. _

_So I sacrificed my duty to my brother._

_I sacrificed my father's life. Although Azulon treated my badly, he was still my father. But Sozin's words, I knew what I had to do. I knew that with Iroh's failure, I had to step up. The command structure of the Fire Nation would have crumbled whilst Iroh mourned. We would have lost all the hard work that our forefathers put in. Azulon asked for my son's life. I was willing to pay the price but my wife was not, and I loved her too much to say no. So I let her kill him._

_So I sacrificed my filial honour._

_I sacrificed my wife, the love of my life. When Azula told her what she had overheard, Ursa was determined that her son would live, even if it meant leaving me. She chose her son over me, over her country, and she was willing to pay any price for him to live. So I had to let her choose what she wanted to do. I had to let her sacrifice herself to save Zuko, no matter how much I wanted to resist. I had to let go of my emotional attachments to her, for the good of the nation. Even though her leaving broke my heart, I had to lead the Fire Nation and finish the war. _

_So I sacrificed my love._

_I sacrificed my son for the nation. Zuko was weak and emotional. I knew that he would not be able to do anything, pay any price to finish the war. He thought everything came easily. He was pampered and coddled. He had to learn his lesson, that as Fire Lord, he would have to be prepared sacrifice everything for the country, including his son. I knew he was a lost cause by the time he was thirteen, so in Agni Kai I sacrificed all my feelings of love for him and banished him. For he could not lead the Fire Nation to the victory it desperately needed._

_So I sacrificed my heir._

_I have sacrificed my daughter for the nation. Azula, she would have made a good wife, but as I observed her, I found someone who could be cold, someone who was willing to do anything to please me, and hence, further the cause of the Fire Nation. I sacrificed her future for the Fire Nation, moulded her into the killing machine that she was. The price was heavy for now I hear that she is in an asylum for the clinically insane. But as Fire Lord, I must be willing to pay any price, even that of the future of my blood._

_So I sacrificed my future._

_I have sacrificed my bending. The Avatar took my greatest gift from me. For the Fire Nation, I almost finished the war in victory. But the Avatar, he defeated me and took away my firebending, he took away my throne, my nation. Now I have nothing left but this dark, dank cell. He has already taken my life, I will merely stop breathing sometime soon. I ask myself, I ask Agni in prayer, was I not good enough? Did I not sacrifice everything for my nation? Why was my sacrifice not enough? Sometimes I think, if the Fire Nation had won the war but I had lost my bending, it would have been worth the price that had to be paid. But I lost, the Fire Nation lost, I was simply not good enough against the Avatar, and now I am left with nothing. I am nothing._

_So I sacrificed my self, my life, my everything. For the good of the nation. _

_My body, it wastes away in this prison cell. There is no point in keeping it in good shape for I have sacrificed everything for the Fire Nation and this is merely the last thing I have that is still mine. I have nothing left but my the breath in my body, and I am sure that soon, I will have to sacrifice that too._


End file.
